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Introducing the Nautilus Winter Reading List

Ten books we loved to start your new year off right.

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The best journeys are those of the mind. Here at Nautilus, we get to embark on new adventures daily, many sparked by new books we read. And often we even get to call up these writers and have a chat with them—or better yet, have them write something new for us. 

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From Pulitzer Prize-winner Richard Powers discussing his new novel, to neuroscientist Daniel Levitin on the healing power of music, to a humanist chaplain on a hopeful future for technology, and a Nautilus contributing editor who takes us to meet underappreciated neighbors, in recent months we’ve engaged with countless fascinating authors and their books. 

Here are 10 of our favorites to start off your New Year.

1. Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI by Anil Anathaswamy

In Body Image
Random House
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Read Anil Anathaswamy’s “3 Greatest Revelations” while writing Why Machines Learn.

2. The Impossible Man: Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius by Patchen Barss

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Basic Books

Read the “3 Greatest Revelations” author Patchen Barss experienced while writing it.

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3. Tech Agnostic: How Technology Became the World’s Most Powerful Religion, and Why It Desperately Needs a Reformation by Greg Epstein

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The MIT Press

Read Harvard and MIT humanist chaplain Greg M. Epstein’s “3 Greatest Revelations” while writing Tech Agnostic.

4. Meet the Neighbors: Animal Minds and Life in a More-Than-Human World by Brandon Keim

In Body Image
W. W. Norton & Company
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Read an excerpt from Meet the Neighbors, and check out author Brandon Keim’s “3 Greatest Revolutions” while writing.

5. I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine by Daniel J. Levitin

In Body Image
W. W. Norton & Company

Read more about the ways in which music can heal us here.

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6. Adventures in Volcanoland: What Volcanoes Tell Us About the World and Ourselves by Tamsin Mather

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Harper Collins Publishers

Read volcanologist Tamsin Mather’s “3 Greatest Revelations” while writing.

7. Hum by Helen Philips

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S&S/Marysue Rucci Books
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Read Nick Hilden’s review of Hum here.

8. Playground by Richard Powers

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W. W. Norton & Company

Read Pulitzer Prize-winner Richard Powers’ “3 Greatest Revelations” while writing Playground.

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9. Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love by Julie Sedivy

In Body Image
Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Read an excerpt from Linguaphile and check out the “3 Greatest Revelations” author Julie Sedivy experienced while writing it.

10. The Living Medicine: How a Lifesaving Cure Was Nearly Lost—And Why It Will Rescue Us When Antibiotics Fail by Lina Zeldovich

In Body Image
St. Martin’s Press
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Read about the comeback of bacteriophages in modern medicine here.

Lead image: Jorm Sangsorn / Shutterstock

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